The IAREP conferences are the heart of the Association's activities. They are older than the Association itself: when they first began they were organised by an informal body called the European Group for Research in Economic Psychology, which was formalised as the International Association for Research in Economic Psychology at the conference in 1982. Some of the conferences were held as a joint conference with SABE (Society for the Advancement of Behavioral Economics), and after the establishment of ICABEEP (The International Confederation for the Advancement of Behavioral Economics and Economic Psychology), as joint IAREP/SABE/ICABEEP conferences.

The conference locations, and their principal organizers, have been as follows. Where the conference was held away from the location of the organizing group, the latter is given in parentheses at the end.